InStyle.com Presents: Jessica Alba's Transformation

1999

Jessica Alba doesn't consider her looks especially exotic. "People today are more ethnically mixed," the actress, who is Mexican, French and Dutch, has said. "The girl next door looks like me." Well, she may not look like her, but she may relate to Alba's real-life roles as a mom and a wife. Just don't expect the eco-activist actress to hit the red carpet in anything flouncy or white. "I don't want to show up [an event] looking like a bride—or Jessica Rabbit," she has said. Spoken like a true girl next door.

Alba came by her love for makeup honestly—she's said, "My mom's a Southern girl who comes from the school that you don't leave the house without your face on, so when I first started wearing makeup, I went overboard." (Photo: Alex Berliner/Berliner Studio)See What's Right Now at InStyle.com

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Jessica Alba doesn't consider her looks especially exotic. "People today are more ethnically mixed," the actress, who is Mexican, French and Dutch, has said. "The girl next door looks like me." Well, she may not look like her, but she may relate to Alba's real-life roles as a mom and a wife. Just don't expect the eco-activist actress to hit the red carpet in anything flouncy or white. "I don't want to show up [an event] looking like a bride—or Jessica Rabbit," she has said. Spoken like a true girl next door.

Alba came by her love for makeup honestly—she's said, "My mom's a Southern girl who comes from the school that you don't leave the house without your face on, so when I first started wearing makeup, I went overboard." (Photo: Alex Berliner/Berliner Studio)See What's Right Now at InStyle.com

The TV star took a hair dye break. "I've tried everything but platinum blond," she has said. "For the L'Oreal commercial I dyed it Feria Ruby Fusion, and I felt like a rock star. For 'Dark Angel,' I had to go back to dark." (Photo: Gregg DeGuire/WireImage)See What's Right Now at InStyle.com

She credited her lush brunette locks to hairstylist Robert Ramos. "I don't know many brunettes besides me who have gone blond then switched back to brown and still have healthy hair," she has said. (Photo: Mike Emory/BEImages)See What's Right Now at InStyle.com

Starring in "Valentine's Day" and the "The Killer Inside Me," Alba switched up her look with a layered bob. "It's piecey, not 'done' looking," says her stylist Robert Ramos. (Photo: Dee Cercone/Everett Collection)See What's Right Now at InStyle.com

For the Golden Globes, Alba showed off her sun-kissed complexion in a peach Oscar de la Renta mermaid gown and a brilliant lip shade. Her makeup artist, Lauren Andersen told us, "The dress was the inspiration, I loved the contrast between her glowing skin and the matte orange lip. It's an almost tropical shade that's not an exact match for the dress but close." Andersen chose Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick in Riviera. (Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)See What's Right Now at InStyle.com